1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to ices (a frozen dessert made of sweetened water and/or fruit juice) comprising ice divided into minute granular pieces. More particularly, it is concerned with ices such as frappes having excellent flavor, allowing to enjoy crispy light sensation when eating.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are a number of frappes in the prior art with different preparation methods and characteristics, as described below.
A frappe which is shaved ice with syrup is prepared by shaving ice into a soft mass by means of an ice scraper having a blade like that of a plane and then adding syrup to the mass in a cup. This is prepared by shaving ice at the time of eating.
Other frappe type ices called chipped ice (or "mizore" in Japan) are comprised of ice minutely chipped, and with which a cup is loosely filled together with syrup. This can be mass-produced, and is prepared by chipping or cracking a relatively large lump of ice by means of a crusher or the like and mixing the chipped product with syrup. The large lump of ice used on that occasion is produced by freezing water put in a large freezing drum for ice manufacture the outside of which is usually cooled by a refrigerant. Ice prepared using a freezing plate or freezing drum may also be used.
Ice pieces called cracked ice or broken ice are also known and are prepared by cracking or breaking a large lump of ice into pieces.
A frappe is served at a store by shaving ice upon request from customers. Since the ice may immediately melt when a cup is filled with it, it has been impractical to mass produce this frappe ahead of time.
When the ices called "chipped ice" are mass-produced, containers such as cups are filled with chipped ice together with syrup, and the resulting products are stored under refrigeration. It is indispensable for such products to provide a light sensation such that granular pieces of ice (or ice grains) crisply break in a mouth when eating. Since, however, the products having been stored under refrigeration become solid and hard together with syrup, they can not be eaten with ease immediately after they are taken out of a storage container, unless they have been left to stand for a while so that the syrup melts to make the whole soft. In addition, a slight temperature rise during manufacture or storage may cause the granular pieces of ice to partly melt at their surfaces coming into contact with the syrup, because of a difference in freezing points. If such partly molten ices are again frozen for further storage, they become harder products.
The ice pieces called cracked ice or broken ice, prepared by simply cracking or breaking a lump of ice into pieces, are relatively large ice pieces with such a size that a single piece thereof can be mouthed with difficulty. Hence, they can not be easily crushed with the teeth in a mouth. Moreover, since they are comprised of ice itself, they have no taste, and have little flavor even if broken into minute pieces.
When a material solution containing a sweetener is put in a freezing drum and frozen to prepare a usual lump of ice, the material solution begins to freeze at the outer portions which are in contact with the inner wall of the freezing drum and continues to freeze toward the center. In this course, components dissolved in the material solution do not freeze together with the ice and mostly remains in the material solution at its portion having not yet been frozen. Hence, as the freezing proceeds, the components dissolved in the material solution accumalate in the center and become concentrated there. It therefore has been impossible to flavor the ice uniformly as a whole. As a result, when the ice thus obtained is fragmented, it has been impossible to obtain ice grains uniformly flavored.
As frozen products with a uniform flavor as a whole, for example, flavored ices called Popsicle are known. These are produced by freezing in a domestic-purpose freezing pan or small-sized freezing tube a material solution containing a sweetener and so forth. When, however, the material solution freezes, only the ice freezes as in the case of the production of a large lump of ice, and the dissolved components such as a sweetener become concentrated. Since, however, the freezing tube is small, the whole can freeze in a short time, so that the portions containing dissolved components become dispersed in the ice in the form of minute liquid droplets. This is a state in which concentrated syrup is enclosed in pores in ice, and a sensation uniform as a whole is produced when eating. Such a frozen product, however, is not transparent as is seen in Popsicle and can be easily crushed with the teeth, giving no crispy light sensation inherent in ice when eating.